


Comic-al Convention

by drumrockstar21



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Crack Fic, F/M, Fluff, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Oneshot, Tumblr Prompt, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 05:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12474908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drumrockstar21/pseuds/drumrockstar21
Summary: Paris Comic-Con has rolled around! When Adrien finds out last minute that he's able to go, the only question is:What will he wear?





	Comic-al Convention

**Author's Note:**

> Idea came from a Tumblr prompt by attackontreason
> 
> http://attackontreason.tumblr.com/post/163277000477/crack-prompt-because-i-cant-write

Adrien had looked so...defeated. 

_"Oh...well, I have a photoshoot that day. Maybe next year."_

To top it off, he had let out a dejected sigh, only adding to his kicked puppy look. 

Nino was distraught, “Seriously? How far in advance do they book you for photoshoots?!”

“This one is a special shoot, for some American magazine called Cosmopolitan.”

Adrien looked none too pleased about the situation. 

"Well, I hope you guys have fun at the convention." he said, turning to leave. Marinette moved as though to speak, but no words came to mind. Ultimately, she let him go, Adrien never noticing the movement. 

"Yeesh, talk about more money, more problems." Nino stated, filling the soundless gap. "Man, I really wanted him to go as well."

Alya only shrugged, "Well there's not much we can do about it. Anyways, I don't know about you Nino, but I'm going as _Ladybug_."

Marinette had to roll her eyes, it was Alya cosplaying as Ladybug, who was Marinette. Essentially, Alya was dressing up as Marinette, even if she didn't know.

She turned towards her two friends, "Oh surprise _surprise_ , and of course I'm going as Chat Noir!” 

Alya snorted in return. "Of course? Since when are you such a big Chat Noir fan?"

Marinette only had to halfway act her offended tone. Regardless of what she said to his face, she really did appreciate and admire him. Of course, admitting that would only hyper-inflate his ego, as she had proved with the Evillustrator incident. 

It's not like she could go as Ladybug though, too risky. Chat Noir was the only option, through process of elimination. 

If that alley cat only knew...

Marinette imagined Chat’s reaction to finding out Ladybug had dressed up like him. There would be teasing, elation, and inevitably, flirting. 

...there'd likely be some hell to pay. 

"So, I guess that means I'll be going as Chat Noir too, huh?" Nino suggested, throwing in an eyebrow wiggle at his girlfriend to try and sweeten the expression. His mood broke as soon as Alya glared at him. 

"Oh come on!" he exclaimed, "Not even a chanc-"

"Nope." Alya, firm and final, interrupted. Despite the boy's grumbling, she remained steadfast, arms crossed and head turned away from him. 

"Fine. I guess I'll just be The Bubbler then." Nino said, as though that would dissuade Alya. 

Marinette almost jumped out of her skin when Alya whipped around on him, "YOU'D BETTER NOT!" 

The reporter became a lava flow of fury, Nino trying (with little success) to play water, cooling off Alya. From what Marinette could gather, they had already had this ‘conversation’ before. Finally, Nino compromised on his costume choice. 

He was _also_ going as Ladybug. 

_'Oh dear lord, it's like Timebreaker all over again.'_

The weeks went by and soon enough, the Paris comic convention was upon them. The sun was shining extravagantly bright, with hardly a cloud overhead. The only sources of shade were created by the tents, and by the Eiffel Tower itself. 

 

Except for where Adrien was, just an hour south of Paris. There, in Lardy, France, a storm was slamming the small commune. It was bound determined to ruin the day, especially the photographer’s. 

“Well, there's no way we're going to get a shoot done today. Okay everyone! Pack up and we’ll reschedule sometime this week!” 

With a final clap of his hands, Adrien’s eyes lit up. There was nothing else to do today! He only had one other shoot that week and it was a group one. Unless Nathalie pulled the, “My-Boss-is-Gabriel-Agreste” card, that one wasn't going to be moved up to today. 

Frantically, Adrien urged his bodyguard to rush back to Paris. He might have been acting like a bit of a pest, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. 

Swiping open his phone, he texted Nino that he would be there. To which, Adrien received a more than enthusiastic response within minutes. 

The fifty minute drive flew by, as Adrien jittered in anticipation. He hardly saw his own feet flying up to his room. 

Then he watched them stop dead in front of his closet. 

_What was he going to wear?!?!_

As if reading his thoughts, (which honestly wouldn't be a surprise if he could,) Plagg began cackling behind him. Casually floating, he chuckled his words out. 

“And what are you going to wear bigshot?”

Another bout of laughter. 

“You wear a costume everyday, and now that you want one, _you don't have it!_ ”

Plagg kept laughing and laughhhing and laughhhhhhing. He was oblivious to the smirk, growing on Adrien’s suddenly mischievous face. 

“Oooh, don't I?”

Plagg’s chuckles slowly metamorphosed, nervousness wedging its way into them. 

“W-what do you mean?”

Adrien held up his hand, ring reflecting off the morning’s sunshine. 

“I have an entire costume…”

A playful head tilt.

“...right…”

A wink, and a metallic tap off of his ring.

“... _here_.”

Plagg's eyes darted between Adrien and the ring. Shock morphed into fear and finally into an almost pleading, kitten-eyed stare. It was too late though, Adrien’s mind wouldn't be swayed so easily. 

“Plagg, claws out!”

“I'm gonna need a year’s worth of _cheeeeeeese!_ ” Plagg cried out in his ring-bound spiral. 

 

Adrien couldn't resist the smug feeling that flooded over him with the super-suit. One final touch, and it would be perfect. Looking himself over in the bathroom mirror, he swiped up his hairbrush and a glob of gel. 

Mere seconds later, Chat Noir suddenly had the hair of Adrien Agreste. 

_‘Perfection itself.’_ Adrien inwardly decided. He had to restrain himself from bounding down the stairs. His bodyguard probably would have been suspicious if he had done what he’d wanted to do. 

Slide down the rail and backflip out the front door. 

It was likely safer to walk instead. It was certainly a new experience, riding in the chrome covered car while transformed. It was as though he was a balloon and had been filled with air, to point of popping, only to be placed in the freezer. Slowly, he deflated from his overly excited self. 

_‘Probably for the better, we don't want to get too Chat Noir now do we?’_ He reassured himself. As the Eiffel Tower came into full view though, energy rushed back into him. 

_There were so many people!_

At first glance, the only outfits Adrien saw were either black leather or black spotted. Checking closer, there were quite a few comic book heroes. 

_‘Is that Timebreaker?!’_ Adrien shouted silently. At first, panic came upon him. What if another situation came up like Puppeteer? There would be a plethora of previous akuma and the magic duo would be in very deep schnapps. 

Then another part of his psyche popped up. 

_Those costumes looked amazing._

The time and effort most (key word, _most_ ) people had put into these outfits was simply too astounding to ignore. The Timebreaker he had seen was spot on, save for being a good deal taller than Alix herself. 

There were others as well. Climatikas, Gamers, Jackadys, and even a few Reflektas. By the time Adrien stepped out of the vehicle, he couldn't keep himself from running up to the first person he saw. 

“Excuse me! Excuse me!”

The young man turned toward him, camera goggles firmly wrapped around his head. 

“Yes, sir?”

Adrien was close to hyperventilating, despite having only run a few steps. “I just wanted to say, your outfit is _fantastic_.”

The man’s face expanded into a grin.

“Thank you so much. I worked on it for almost a month!”

“Really? How’d you get the camer-”

“Aaaaadrien! Over here!” Came the voice he knew was Alya’s. 

“Oh! Sorry, I have to go meet my friends. Again, awesome costume!” Adrien said, leading himself away. 

“Thanks! Yours is great too!”

“Thank you!”

Adrien jogged over to his friends, the fact he was _actually_ wearing a super suit leaving him with no trouble for air. The paranoid side of him said to act a bit out of breath from jogging, he decided against it though. 

“Dude! When did you find time to make _that?_ ” Nino asked straightaway. 

“Oh, umm. I, guess I just didn't get to sleep a lot! Hehe, he. he.” Adrien lied, a veritable bundle of nerves. 

His friends seemed to go with it though, the excitement around them keeping them from prying too far. Or at least, the two that were there. 

“Where's Marinette?” He questioned, glancing around for her. Alya shook her head and gave a noncommital shrug. 

“She said she was gonna meet us here, so I don't kno-”

“AHHHHHH!”

A screech stopped the trio in their tracks. Alya immediately sprinted off toward the sudden commotion, while Nino trailed after her. Adrien suddenly had the perfect opening to slip away and-

Oh wait, he was already transformed. 

Slipping behind a vendor’s stall, Adrien ruffled his hair and assumed that was good enough. He quickly stepped out again and bounded off towards what could only be an akuma. 

Because of course some nerd had to get all worked up over nerd things. A Dungeons and Dragons fan, no less. So what else would he be terrorizing people with other than a dragon? At least it wasn't his first rodeo with a massive, fire-breathing lizard. 

Just as Chat showed up, Ladybug ricocheted her black and red spotted lucky charm, a boomerang, into the Dungeon Master’s hand. A small, 20-sided die flew away from his grasp and right into Chat Noir’s palm. 

_‘Well this couldn't have been easier if we’d tried!’_ Adrien thought, as his Cataclysm disintegrated the playing piece. Well, he had to get one joke in at least. 

“Looks like you rolled a 20 in luck, my Lady.”

She raised an eyebrow, matching her smirk, “Oh yeah? How is that?”

She obviously was humoring him, but he was inclined to take it, “Well because I showed up, obviously!”

As expected, a roll of the eyes answered him. 

As completely _unexpected_ , Ladybug’s Miraculous gave out a dangerous final beeping. Both of their eyes became wide as saucers, helpless to stop their mistake from completing itself. 

There was a tiny god watching over Marinette. A flash of pink, and she was standing there without a spotted suit. 

She did however, have a mask. A red and black polka-dotted mask. The edges of it sparked, as though it were straining itself to cover her face. That's not what Chat noticed though. 

No, rather he noticed the black leather suit she was wearing. Black boots, clawed gloves and-

Dear Lord, she even had the bell. 

Quickly though, Adrien pushed the sight from his mind. He leapt towards Ladybug, full speed, and wrapped himself around her. His cat-like reflexes were just enough to cover her face, as the mask sputtered away into nothing. A small red bug fluttered to his shoulder weakly, while he still ran through the crowded convention. Finally, when he was quite a few blocks away from the scene, he came to a stop, secluded and sheltered, on top of a building. 

Refusing temptation, he pointed his head upwards and shut tight his eyes. 

Ladybug, in her black Chat costume, remained plastered to his chest. Her face kept its cover for another brief moment, while the two caught their breath. Adrien released his Cheshire grin up towards the bright blue sky.

“So I have to say Bugaboo, black leather looks spectacular on you.”

Still breathing hard, a giggle ran its way through Adrien’s chest. It was Ladybug’s giggle. 

“Oooh Chat Noir, if I were Ladybug right now-”

Quite sharply, Adrien realized the closeness of the position they were in. He took advantage, and stopped her mid sentence with a squeeze. His own chest effectively silenced her like a pillow over the face. 

“Oh but you are Ladybug,” he said with confidence, “even when you aren't transformed. In fact, I would bet you're even more like Ladybug when you're not transformed.”

Another set of giggles, softer and shyer, reverberated through him. 

“Okay, that makes no sense, but I get what you mean. Also, I don't think that works the way you think it works.”

Adrien almost instinctively moved to look her in the eyes to answer her, but she was still wrapped tightly around his torso, and he was not planning on stealing a look at her. He would wait, regardless of his own feelings on the matter. 

“Hear me out. You do amazing things as Ladybug, we can both agree on that.”

“Okay, I'll admit that there's something... _miraculous_ about me when I'm transformed.”

Adrien smiled, appreciating the pun. 

“And I would imagine that you do Ladybug-like things when you're not transformed, right? Like if people are in danger, and you can't transform, you would help them anyways.”

“Well, yeah I guess I do that when I need to,” she placated, “but I still don't see how that makes me more like Ladybug than when I'm actually Ladybug.”

Adrien felt the shrug she gave, a silent request to state his point. He obliged, “If you do Ladybug things when you're not Ladybug, the fact that you do those things, even _without_ super powers. _That's_ what makes you more Ladybug than Ladybug.”

She was quiet for a minute. Adrien kept his eyes closed, nose up at the sky, enjoying the rare spell of intimacy. Ladybug squeezed him tighter for a brief second before releasing him from her hold. 

“Tikki, you all charged up?”

A high voice chirped back, “Yup! Sure am Mar-m-my Lady.” Her tone teasing on the nickname. 

Chat chuckled to himself as Ladybug transformed back, and took a step away. The bright flash of pink letting him know that the coast was clear. When he looked back at her, her hands were tangled together, as she looked up at him. 

“Thank you, Chat. For saving me.”

Adrien responded with a bow. “But of course, my Lady.” Standing up straight, he glanced back towards the festival before looking at her again. “Now then, shall we get back to the party, Mademoiselle Noir?” 

Her eyes rolled before he could even give off a wink. 

“I suppose you're going as Chat Noir then, since you love yourself so much.”

Chat’s tongue shot out at her, quick as a whip. Without another word, he flew off towards the grounds. Marinette waited a moment before following, albeit towards the other side of the convention. 

Detransforming, she held Tikki in her hands, nuzzling her in thanks, before stepping out of the alleyway. 

As Chat Noir. 

Her wide strides kept the bell around her neck ringing constantly. It was the only piece drastically different from Chat Noir’s own suit. Rather than stitching it to the suit collar, Marinette opted to make a black felt choker. The bell rang confidently around her throat. The tail was shorter than Chat’s to avoid dragging it on the ground (she couldn't exactly control hers like he could). Claws made klutziness into an almost lethal problem, so she resigned to dull them slightly. Finally, she had her custom made ears. They were by far her favorite part of the outfit, if only for the mind boggling amount of effort she had put into them. Felt scraps would likely litter her room for the following few weeks. 

_‘Heh. Litter.’_ her inner Chat chuckled. 

When Marinette had made her way through the crowd, she finally caught sight of her friends. 

Alya, in her Ladybug costume, ran toward her. “Girl! Where have you been! You didn't get caught up in the akuma attack did you?”

Marinette easily faked her surprise. “Akuma attack?! Where was that at? I accidentally went to the other entrance.”

Alya ate up the excuse, muttering, “Typical Marinette.” before cheerfully dragging her to the other members of their group. 

Okay, so Nino actually went through with the Ladybug costume. The outfit...didn't quite fit him. The entire suit had a certain bagginess to it, which told Designer Marinette™ that it had most likely been purchased online, and ordered the wrong size. 

Adrie-

A-Adrien looked-

Wow. 

Adrien looked wow. That was the closest Marinette could have to a complete thought. The suit was spot on, not a stitch out of place. He was rich after all, she supposed. One detail was wrong though. 

The hair. 

It was combed over in true Adrien fashion. As Chat’s partner though, the small change was off-putting. She couldn't stand idly by, not when she could do something about it. But she couldn't do that! Not with _Adrien_. Marinette shook free of those ridiculous thoughts, only to find that she _was_ doing something about it. 

Her hand was in his hair. Adrien’s hair was engulfing her hand. Adrien was staring at her like she was a mad woman...that was fair. 

Staring straight into Adrien’s eyes, Marinette ruffled it once more. Perfect!

“Perfect?” she nervously offered. 

Oh wow, it really was perfect. In fact, maybe a bit too perf-

_‘Holy crap, that is just Chat Noir.’_ Marinette’s mind said calmly.

Then it began yelling it. Finally, when her mind was screeching that _Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir_ , she regained the state of mind to pull her hand from his hair. 

No other words were exchanged between the two for a few moments, as they all walked the grounds. When Alya pulled them to a Ladybug and Chat Noir merchandise stand, that's when things changed exponentially. 

As to be expected, Alya and Nino gushed over the dolls and shirts that were displayed at the small store. What Marinette didn't expect was to see Adrien doing the same. She fully would have expected Chat Noir to do so, of course. 

So when she saw both of the blonde boys doing it at the same time, a smirk grew on Marinette’s face. It only grew larger as she approached him. 

“So, you're aaaaaaa pretty big Chat Noir fan, huh?” she asked innocently. 

Adrien casually answered back, “Hmm? Oh, well, yeah I suppose. Personally I prefer Ladybug though.”

Marinette had trouble disguising the fact she’d nearly jumped out of her skin. If Ladybug had asked him the same question, Chat Noir certainly would've come up with some wisecrack remark. 

Right?

On the tip of her tongue, she was poised to dig deeper for answers. She couldn't though, she wasn't sure if she was ready for the answers. In the end, her own nerves held her tongue for her. 

“Hey, Marinette,” Adrien asked, offering up a small Ladybug doll for inspection, “do you- oh, umm, how to put this…”

For no reason she could pinpoint, the anxiety of his pause frayed her nerves even further. What really was she expecting? Whatever her mind expected, it had her sitting on the proverbial edge of her proverbial seat. 

“...if someone got you a gift like this,” he gestured towards the doll, which dangled from his claws by the arm. Despite having a steady, smiley face expression, it looked like the little toy was holding on for dear life, swinging from his black glove. 

Marinette didn't wait for him to finish his thought. “I would love it.”

Having been stopped in his tracks, he blinked at her dumbly. Marinette scrambled to recover. 

“O-of course, you know I don't mean m-m-me! Hehe. Or wait, is it I know you don't mean? But, like if you were getting it for me, and again, not saying you are, but I would certainly be very happy. Does that, I don't know...does that make sense?”

Though she cringed at her own rambling, Adrien only smiled warmly at her. “Yeah! That makes sense, thanks Marinette!”

He turned to the shop keep, “This Ladybug doll, and also a Chat Noir one, please.”

The dolls looked eerily similar to the ones Marinette had made herself. The noticeable differences were the stitched-on-almost-iron-on-patch eyes in place of buttons, and stronger arm stitchings. The vendor placed them in a small paper bag with handles cut out, and exchanged them for Adrien’s money. 

There was a concert happening soon, just under the tower. A few local artists and bands were performing, and Nino was absolutely dying to see them. If only people had been able to leave Adrien alone, they might have made the first act. 

“Chat Noir! Come take pictures with us!” people, young and old, yelled at him. When he explained how he wasn't the real Chat Noir, most of them left. A few of them still wanted their picture with him, though. 

One such fan seemed to take his statement with a grain of salt. Marinette’s heart rate grew alarmingly high. She was sure Chat’s was as well, based on his matching expression. 

“Hmm,” the young woman hummed. She surveyed him up and down, like a prized show-cat. When she was done studying his costume, she pushed her glasses up with a smirk. Light glinted off the lenses, as she began to speak. 

“I see...yes, now that you mention it, I do notice quite a few errors with your cosplay outfit.”

Adrien’s lips sputtered, obviously flabbergasted. Marinette had to hold her fist to her mouth, restraining herself so she wouldn't laugh out loud. 

“First off, this bell isn't the correct shade of gold. The one Chat Noir wears is far brighter.” The girl gestured flippantly, as though the item needed to be brushed off his suit. “And then the suit material itself, what is it _pleather?_ ”

Marinette’s quiet laughter quickly screeched to a halt. The self-proclaimed critic was running her hands over the suit. 

_All_ over the suit. 

Adrien was clearly uncomfortable. Yet still, the girl ran her fingers across his arms in examination. She lifted his hand up to view his claws, humming in dissatisfaction. Quite suddenly, her hand was splashed out over his chest.

Nope. Not allowed. This girl was not about to manhandle Adrien. For that matter, Marinette wasn't about to let some self-righteous bimbo manhandle Chat Noir either. If his thrashing tail was any indication, Adrien was extremely uncomfortable. 

A second, more feminine, claw reached out and grasped the woman's wrist. Adrien took a step back, the hand staying stock still where he had been standing prior. 

Marinette positively glowered at the lady who had dared to try and damn near _feel up_ her partner. 

“I would appreciate it if you _didn't_ do that.” Marinette spat out at her. While the words themselves weren't particularly vicious, every ounce of venom Marinette possessed was in her tone. 

Somehow this woman, whether by pure willpower or pure ignorance, stood her ground and managed to sass back at her. 

“What are you? His girlfriend? _Lay off._ "

Marinette hesitated a moment, her glare though never faltered. With this sudden realization, a lot of possibilities were now open. Doors that seemed closed to her, had been flung wide open to the point where it was just an empty space for her to walk through. All she had to do was choose. 

Not that Adrien's/Chat’s opinion didn't matter, but there would be time to explain to him after all this craziness. What mattered to Marinette in the moment was this confrontation. 

_Telling this chick off._

“As a matter of fact, _I am._ ” Marinette announced with a false air of pride. She could hear the audience of two behind her gasp, and she could only imagine Adrien’s face right then. Regardless of what the consequences were, Marinette had clearly won. The girl gave one last sneer at her before slinking away into the crowd. 

Now came the fallout. 

Or…she could just ignore it, play like nothing had happened until she had to confess to Chat that she knew who he was. At that point, all hell would break loose. Until then…

Well, Marinette was entitled to a little fun at Chat’s expense. Speaking of, he had been giving her sideways glances for a while now…

Oh no. 

Had he figured her out already?!

Marinette worried her lip, chewing it in anxiety. As she did so, she caught Adrien’s eye. She nearly fainted as she watched his jaw drop and eyes widen. 

WHAT DID THAT MEAN?!

Nino quickly pulled his attention away from the girls. Alya closed in for the kill, likely having sent in her boyfriend as bait. Alya wrapped an arm around Marinette’s neck to pull her into the two person huddle. 

“Did you see that girl?! Adrien _totally_ has the hots for you! It has to be the costume!”

A quick glance down at herself, unimpressed. While the outfit wasn't exactly revealing, it was about as tight as her Ladybug suit. Chat Noir would've been pretty used to seeing that. The realization only left more questions than answers, as the Headlock of Gossip™ was released by Alya. 

Did Adrien know who she was? Was he asking the same question of “Does she know who I am?” The most pressing question though…

Was Alya right?

Nino’s excitement flared up as the group approached the concert stage. For the first time since she had detransformed, Marinette couldn't hear the bell around her neck when walking. 

“HEY MARINETTE!”

The aforementioned nearly jumped out of her skin. Adrien was right in her ear, and no matter how loud the band was playing, a certain cat-boy was far too close to be that loud. With a quick turn and a push to his nose, Marinette created just enough space for her to not go deaf from his screeching. 

“WHAT?” She screamed over the music. 

Even with the new distance, Adrien seemed far too loud, “HOW DID YOU GET YOUR BELL TO RING SO LOUD?” 

Marinette cringed under the edge of his voice, it sounded strained and hoarse from yelling. She had to wonder, how could he even hear a stupid little bell in this-

Oh. 

Marinette’s eyes widened at his lightly fuzzed ears, pinned down against the blonde mop of hair. If he could hear the bell of her choker, then this music had to be deafening. She quickly searched around, looking for something to help him. 

Her eyes landed on Alya’s bag, which she grasped without a word. Alya glanced to see it was Marinette and then continued enjoying the concert as Marinette rifled through the accessory. Triumphantly, she held up her prize. 

A grey scarf. 

She approached the confused Adrien, quickly wrapping his head before he could protest. The scarf held his ears down, essentially muffling any sound. Making sure to pad that area the most, she took a step back to admire her handiwork. 

He looked like a total dork. 

Chat Noir stood before her with a scarf wrapped around over his head and under his jaw, and the amusement from what she was seeing was enough to crack a grin. 

It dawned on Chat what she had done, and a splitting grin spread across his own face. 

Now he _really_ looked like a dork. He didn't seem to know or care though, the music now bearable for him. Just as Marinette turned to watch the concert though, she saw another expression cross his face. 

A hint of shock, maybe a little horror, and despite not being able to see it, his eyes pointed up towards his cat ears. The ones that were clearly extra-padded. 

The ones Marinette shouldn't have known worked like actual ears. 

This time, Marinette hid her grin from him. She jumped her way back over to Alya and Nino, since the whole crowd was jumping along with the music. Adrien weaved through the few people between them. When he reached the group, he started getting into the groove, and jumped along. 

Marinette held down on his shoulders lightly when he started to jump a bit too high for a normal person. He seemed to understand and grinned sheepishly. 

Another few songs played before the next band began setting up. 

“Alright. Let's go, these guys suck.” Nino deadpanned.

Adrien took the scarf off, returning it and thanking Alya. Marinette’s eyes quickly shot up to the felt ears resting over his head. A second later she met his eyes, realizations and questions burning in them. As though he were self-conscious of his cat-ears, he quickly dropped her gaze and let his ears droop. 

“Yo, Nino and I are going to find the bathroom. You guys need to go?” Alya asked. 

Adrien shook his head and Marinette, seeing his reaction, answered for the both of them, “No we’re good. We can wait here while you guys find it alright?”

Marinette and Adrien sat on the park bench while their friends were blended into the crowd. For the first time that day, she took a good look at Adrien, to affirm her suspicions.

She took in the way his tail slithered back and forth, hanging through the back of the bench. Really, not even Alya had picked up on that? He was moving his extra appendages without a second thought, (maybe, like breathing, it didn't even take a conscious thought) and the dedicated, irresponsibly journalistic teen girl was absolutely _slacking_. 

Marinette reached up to graze her thumb against his feline ear. It flinched at first. As he sat and watched the people go by, he relaxed into her gentle pettings. 

As much as she had wanted to mess with him for longer, she also felt the guilt bubbling up inside her. Guilt that she knew the one thing she had denied him knowledge of for years. It didn't eat at her. Rather the guilt was building up pressure. This part of the convention was quieter than the rest, it seemed. Marinette knew it was time. 

Adrien inadvertently cut off her confession, “You know...don't you?”

She continued to scrub her thumb against the fur of his ear, “Yeah, Chat, I know.”

Adrien broke the contact by throwing his head back. Quietly, Marinette pulled her hands back into her lap. 

“Ughhhhh. I should have known this was a bad idea!” Adrien sulked. He said nothing more for the moment, so Marinette began rebuilding her courage. Before she even got halfway, he broke the silence again. 

“Ladybug is going to kill me.”

Before she could stop it, Marinette burst out laughing. She quickly placed her hands in position to silence herself, but with Chat now looking at her, head cocked to the side, she couldn't hold back very well. 

“I don't think Ladybug is going to kill you, Adrien.”

His head tilted even more, “What? Why not? This is _huge!_ "

Marinette whispered in his ear, grin becoming borderline manic, “Because _I'm_ Ladybug.”

Adrien whipped his head back to look at her. Within seconds, his belief became apparent. A huge grin, different from his normal one spread across his face. This one was pure, innocent, and most of all:

_Hopeful._


End file.
